; " 14TH ANNUAL .
OMAHA
AUTOMOBILE SHOW
Bee
14TH ANNUAL
OMAHA
AUTOMOBILE' SHOW
Omaha
The
Sunday
VOL. XLIX NO. 37.
OMAHA, SUNDAY . MORNING, FEBRUARY 29, 1920.-
1 X
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS
TO MAKE BROADER
PLANS FOR MOTOR
TRUCK TEST RUN
Manufacturers of Commercial
Vehicles Encourage Man
agers of National Re
liability Contest.
During the national motor truck
shows at New York and at Chicago
the manufacturers of commercial
vehicles met the managers of the
First National Motor Truck Relia
bility contest and gave them every
encouragement to go" ahead on even
broader plans than had been con
templated. In fact, indications point
now to an even larger entry list
than had been expected. So great
was the interest displayed that plans
for a trip by Charles P. Root, gen
eral manager, over the tentative
route prior to the pathnnding trip
were gone over in detail.
In the Money Belt.
The Run Around the Money Belt,
lovering portions of seven states
will require most careful planning
tor thft hmttitntr rif tli citiqII arniw !
of men who will take part. Accom
modations for the men is one big
problem, and another is the care of
trucks in the run, including con
trols atseach noon and night stop,
and gasoline and oil supplies. '
.The route contemplated is but ten
tative, for. maltcrs of the character
mentioned will have much bearing
upon the direction ami scope of the
event. Manufacturers at the shows
expressed every confidence in the
management and said that there was
nothing to worry about in that con
nection. They also commended the
general outline of the event, and
said that it had been planned in a
country every manufacturer was es
pecially anxious to interest, in the
motor truck. ' ,
Fine Field Here.
: Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado,
Kansas, Missouri, leva and South
Dakota are fertile fields for, the
sale of motor trucks now that! the
pneumatic tire has proven so splen
did a success. All of the trucks on
this tour will be equipped with
pneumatics. The run will take the
trucks through the most fertile ag
ricultural district of the United
States. This territory is destined to
lead all others in the per capita
truck ownership. ;
The trucks will travel approxi
mately 100 miles per day. There
may be days with less mileage and
other days will have more, due to
the necessity of reaching the best
possible noon, night and Sunday
tops. The run will be 24 days on
the road, in all .probability, with
three Sundays during which there
will be no drivvintr.
All of these plaus.imet with ., tide !
approval, ot . tne manufacturers, as'
did the general plans of the contest
as outlined in the prospectus. Divi
sion of the trucks into five divisions,
with The Omaha Bee trophy as the
main or grand trophy, and the offer
ing of trophies for each of the
classes, proved good news to the
makers. Awarding of handsome cer
lincates showing explicitly the rec
ord made by the truck was also
v'ommended.
Equipment Counter Shows
Many Novel Accessories
Motorists of Today Favors Convenience and Shops
Bring Forth Many Inventions ThatAdd to the
Pleasure of Riding In Automobiles.
Glorious Name In
Air History Is That
Of Rickenbacker
Once ttpon a time in the native
state of President McKinley, Pro
fessor Taft, Elsie .Janis, "Chick"
Harley, and the Cincinnati Reds
there was born a Buckeye baby, cut
out for a scintillating career. '
Like other noted Americans, ht
hegan in a modest way. His firsj
job was cleaning greasy tools in a
machine shop at Columbus. Next
he went with the Frayer Miller
air cooled automobile people. That
was in 190c and two years later
tound him with the Columbus Buggy
company, '
His first taste of tame came in 1910
behind the steering wheel of a Fire
stone Columbus when he electrified
a racing throng at Omaha. In 1913
he was with the. Duesenberg racing
(cam and the following year a star
on the Peugeot squad. , -
His 'big racing year came in 1915,
when along 'with Barney Oldfield
and the old Maxwell , racing team,
ho literally raced his way into the
hearts of the exposition thousands
at San Francisco. In 1916 he went
to England in search of high power
ed racings cars, but when Uncle
Sam got in trouble he caught the
h'rst ferry back.
. In May, 1917, as an ordinary ser
geant chauffeur, he went to France
with General Pershing, returning
to. America in; February, 1919. What
he did in the two-year interval will
be told on the brightest pages of
future histories.
Excessive Horn Tooting
Doesn't Add to Safety
It is advisable before passing an
intersection of streets, says Motor
Life magazine, to signal, listen for
a reply and then signal again. Some
such plan whichever plan " seems
feasible to the particular driver
should be instrumental in lessening
the number of accidents that are the
direct result of wrong horning.
The driver, technically known as
the "road hog," is less likelyfto be
the victim of a crossing accident of
this sort because the other fellow
is bound to hear him coming. But
the excessive horning is a general
nuisance everywhere. He annoys
the patrons 'of the theater, the
church congregation, the - patients
In the hospital, and a thousand and
one persons who are perfectly well
aware that he has a horn.'
Farmers Co-operate
' To Run Rural Express
' "Approximately 20,000 fanners' co
operative societies in , the United
States-are potential rural motor ex
pres operators.. , .. .
LESLIE V. SPENCER
la Motor lit Mfuln. ,
We can all remember the days
when the word "accessory" meant
very little in the life of the average
motorist. He bought a car without
a windshield, top, speedometer and
many other fitments that , go unno
ticed with every car sold today, and
if ht wanted any of these "acces
sories" he sought the good offices
of the dealer from whom he bought
the car. The dealer kept a few
things tucked away in one corner
of his show room or service station
in order to supply the buyer with
whatever extras he wished ,to put
on his purchase, but as for taking
the accessory business very serious
ly, well, he was a seller of motor
cars, not extra equipment for which
there was indifferent demand. What
did a fellow want a windshield or
speedometer for, anyway? - "
Perhaps 15 years back, when one
bought a car as much for notoriety
of the thing as for the good one de
rived from its occasional periods of
activity, it wasn't at all necessary to
trouble much about extra fittings to
add to the convenience and comfort
of the vehicle, for it was mainly a
matter of keeping going rather than
considering one's comfort too se
riously. ,
Due to the agitation for the elimi
nation of glaring headlights, . there
has been much impetus to the de
velopment of devices designed to
cope with this condition. , The prob
lem has been attacked from both
the standpoint of making the driver
proof against the dazzle of the
lights of the oncoming car without
sacrificing any of his necessary road
vision, and from the other side of
the matter, by eliminating the dazzle
danger at its source the headlight
itself.
Many Colored Lenses.
All sorts of colored glass lenses
that diffuse the reflected rays have
been produced, any many devices
with some form of shade over them
have been brought out. Recently I
saw a lens with violet coloring, and
due to the fact that violet light is a
soft illumination, no doubt the idea
of this device is a good one. Much
scientific research has been made to
eliminate the dazzling rays without
sacrificing the primary purpose of
the headlights to light the road
ahead.
All manner of schemes for lock
ing the C3r so that the wily car thier
will be foiled have been offered,
and this past year several new types
have been added. One very clever
type has a rugged steel collar that
goes . around the steering f column
and another piece that attaches to
one of the arms of the steering
wheel spider. These are per
manently affixed, but jn no way in
terfere with the steering. . There is
a third section which' dovetails into
the other two and which contains
a Yale lock. The screw which
holds the - parts going around the
spider arm and the steering post are
covered by the intermediate lock
piece, so that when in locked posi
tion there is a substantial reason
why the car cannot be steered, and
with the screws covered, the lock
is removal-proof. The only way a
thief could get away with a car so
locked would be to tow it on a
wheeled jack, which would be a
rather conspicuous operation, to say
nothing of the trouble.
Jacks Are Plentiful
An inspection of tthe accessory
shops reveals that much ingenuity
and inventive ability has been de
voted to the matter of jacks that
can be operated from' a distance. By
that I mean devices that do not re
quire the operator to almost get
under the car to work therm There
is the kind that works with a chain,
allowing the jackee to, stand upright
a few feet from the jack's position
under the axle, and by pulling the
chain to turn a pinion that raises or
lowers the jack. Another clever
style that 'is new is operated by a
long handle which folds into sever
al .sections when the tool is to be
stowed awayVunder the seat Still
another has an extension shaft with
a folding handle at right angles to
the main part You operate this in
the same fashion as you would a
corkscrew. 1 ;
The electric clock also has come.
It is perhaps one of the newest of
automobile . fitments. We are all
familiar with the electric clocks in
public buildings and' offices, which
are wound automatically and can be
set by the operator at the telegraph
office where the time is received
hourly by wire. Much the same idea
is used for these new automobile
clocks. So far as the dial goes, they
look just the same as any other
clock and are just as compact, but
instead of having the standard type
of clock works, they enclose a small
magnet the periodic' movement of
the armature of which actuates an
escapement wheel, which in turn con
nects wi.th tii' hands through suit
able jnechanib. It is very simple,
and the beauty u( such a clock is
that when connet, ! to the storage
battery or a few u.y cells it keeps
time accurately and indefinitely with
out any "attention, since winding is
automatic. The amount of current
consumed by the little magnetic
mechanism is almost negligible.
Advantages of Clock.
In explaining this nev timepiece to
me, the salesman saiQ that it is un
disturbed by jarring such as the au
which is operated by and in exact
time with the master clock. Thus,
the master clock can be installed on
the car's dash, and inside the passen
ger compartment a similar clock
can be mounted, the second time
piece being absolutely controlled by
the first,' so that both will keep to
gether to the second. The taxi own
er would do well to install such a
clock combination, for then both the
clock by which the meter was con
trolled and the one which the pass
enger, saw would - be . axactly alike
and then there would be less chance
for arguments. The electric clock
for automobiles indeed possesses
some interesting possibilities.
One of ilhe year's accessory de
velopments' that must not be over
looked is the wind reflector which
is an auxiliary piece of glass at
tached to either side of the main
windshield by brackets that fasten
to the uprights. These shields can
be: adjusted to any angle, and they
undoubtedly do much to . prevent
that annoying eddying often exper
ienced with plain shields. The wind
shoots by the sides of the shield
and swirls into the faces of the oc
cupants of the front and rear seats.
By the use of these glass wings at
the sides of the shield the air is shot
outwards from the car's occupants,
resulting in the deflectors getting an
unqualified endorsement by the pas
sengers. This devise hails from
sunny California, where many of the
unique car fitments have been born.
New Tire Pump.
. Nor must I overlook tiiat clevef
little gadget which is a combination
tire gauge and pump connection.
The old connection is removed from
the pump hose and this little device
goes on in its place. On its barrel
is. an adjustment whereby any pres
sure from 50 to 120 pounds per
square can be set. Having adju.'. '
it to the required pressure, y.
affix the connection to the tire valve
in the usual way. Then all you do is
pump, for when the set pressure is
reached you cannot get any more air
into the tire, for a relief valve then
opens and prevents more from en
tering., At the .same time this es
caping air makes a noticeable buzz
ing sound that immediately tells you
that your labors are at an end. With
this little article it isn't necessary
to remove the hose connection from
time to time and then to try the
pressure with a separate gauge to
ascertain how you are progressing.
The whole process is simplified. Of
course, this gauge and connection
combination can just as readily be
attached to the end of your power
pump hose, if you are fortunate
enough to have such a pump. I wish
I had thought of that idea, for it's
a good one.
For a number of years we have
had distance thermometers for vari
ous uses, but that idea of having the
temperature indicating dial at some
distance from the heat that is being
measured has never been applied to
automobiles until now. Perhaps the
use to which such distance instru
ments were put in airplanes had
something to do with a similar in
stallation for automobiles, but at any
rate, it is an excellent idea to be able
to see the water and radiator tem
perature on an instrument on the
dash instead of having the thermom
eter on top of the radiator cap sev
eral feet from wHere you sit. The
maker of the filler cap instrument
now has a very excellent type for
the dash, with a tube connecting to
the water jackets to conduct tthe
heat to the thermometer. This-device
is perhaps as nice a refinement of
existing equipment as the year has
brought to light.
Regulate Air Flow.
The evolution of air devices to
regulate the How of air through the
radiator in the winter time is inter
esting and has culminated in several
very excellent fittings for the pur
pose. Not more than a year or two
ago it was the very general practice
in cold weather to put a piece of
cardboard or a newspaper in front
of the radiator so that the frigid air
could not get through to unduly
cool the engine. Most every motorist
recognized . that there should be
some means of regulating the
amount of air passing through in
accordance with the temperature,
for in winter only a limited cooling
area was required, whereas in sum
mer every inch " of cooling surface
was needed. Later on covers de
signed to exclude the air as a whole
or in part were brought out, most
of them made of some kind of fabric
material. Many 'of these are still
used, and they have a front section
that can be rolled up any desired
amount to control the air supply.
A development of this idea of air
regulation is the clever shutter unit
that fits over the radiator and is con
trolled by a rod running to the dash.
IiTthe same manner as he regulates
the carbureter choke or any other
instrument the car owner can manip
ulate this shutter control to give the
amount of air he thinks right for the
weather. Still another air-regulating
scheme is now on the market which
incorporates a thermostat in the
center of the top of the ehutter unit
This device, of tourse, comes in va
rious shapes to attach to the front
of most any standard radiator, and
the amount of opening of the shut
ters is entirely automatic, governed
by the thermostat's pretty accurate
idea of how much air you need to
give you the happy medium between
overheating the engine and allowing
it to become so chilled that it can't
work well. While the idea of shut
ters is not new, having been used by
several car makers for three or four
seasons, still the scheme of making
the shutter unit a separate and en
tirely self-contained affair, whether
automatically controlled or not, is
a product of the year.
DETOURS
. BY HERBERT BUCKMAN. .
We sail along a model country
road . ,
The engine hums its song- without
a miss
With sun and cheer the day is, well
bestowed,
When suddenly our eyes alight on
this:
DETOUR HERE.
The highway like a ribbon wends its
(way ,
Like smoothest satin that from
nature grew
The gods make all outdoors foi
human play- .
What's this . that looms before
our startled view? '
- , . NO ROAD.
The well paved brick, tempts us to
speed a bit
The tires hum with pleasing tra'c-
, tion hold
The moments like the joyous robins
flit . .
Until we see in letters black and
bold
DETOUR ON MILE
The engineer has done his level
best
The grade is perfect and the road
is a gem,
The highway here meets every
driving test ,.,
Until our vision greets this apo
thegm ROAD CLOSED REPAIRS.
O, when I take my chariot to the
skies , ,
To ride into the realms of bliss di
vine, I'll know for sure that I've gained
heaven's prize
If on the way I meet no detour
sign. !
Building permits were issued fori
744 dwellings and 1,337 garages in
Columbus, O., during 1919.
Engine Blowing Bubbles
Means a Loss of Gasoline
Carburetor Merely Mixes Gas
and Water Steam Jet Does
Away With 'Bubble Waste
If the motor car . owner , could
watch the flow of gasoline from the
carburetor into the intake mani
fold, he would discover that his car,
as one of the ditties of the day har
monizes it, is "forever blowing bub
bles." He would find that what he
thinks is condensation of gasoline
is not condensation at all, but lacR
of vaporization.
The steam carburetor has a vital
relation to this "blowing of bubbles"
in the 'gasoline intake manifold, and
it enables the intake manifold to ac
complish a complete vaporization of
the gasoline, eliminating what the
owner thinks is condensation of
gasoline. The steam carburetor, put
to test at Ames, la., agricultural col
lege, revealed there seemingly is no
such action, as condensation of gas
oline in the intake manifold.
, Merely Mixes Gas and Air. t
These laboratory tests,, made by
Amesi engineers, established that the
carburetor does not vaporjze the
gasoline. All it does is. mix the
gasoline with air. This ' mixture
then passes into the intake mani
fold. ' ' .
In the center of this stream as it
passed into the manifold the engi
neers observed a bluish, cloud-like
vapor, while to each side of this was
gasoline in sprayed form. .
The gasoline sprays at each side
of the blue vapor cloud were drawn
toward the cylinders by the suc
tion of the motor. As they passed
in they presently struck against the
wall of the intake manifold. At this
point the sprays' turned into tiny
globules of gasoline or air in other
words, into bubbles. These bubbles
clunj to the wall of the manifold,
finally being drawn intq the ex
plosion chambers in that form.
Waste of Fuel
This bubble formation of the gas
oline represents the average owner's
waste of fuel. It also adds to the
fndency of the motor to make car
bon. The steam carburetor shoots hot.
live steam into the manifold jus
above the carburetor proper, and
this steam eliminates the bubble
formation of gasoline, and convert
all the gasoline into vapor form, t
Front Hall In City
Of Guatamala Is Also
Garage for the Owner
r
The New York Sun says that m
Guatemala there is no private gar
age problem. Motorists have elimi
nated the private gatage by making
hallway of the houses, about wher?
you would expect the umbrella stand
and the hatrack to be a combination
of front door, front yard and garage. ,
The fact was revealed through a
'.et'ter from a car importer in Cen-,
tta1 America to an automobile
manufacturer, in which he empha
sizes that "it is necessary to know
tne Size Ol me cars io nuu u,
whether they could easily enter $rfT
hall." '
PISTONS
PISTONS
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High Quality
Light Weight
. ; , ...
Each yeai4 brings new and moret progressive merchan
dising methods in automotive lines. Proper size pistons
have been one of the hardest items to replace. Many a
car owner is driving his automobile with worn, slappy
pistons that cause loss of power, use more oil and gas and
because he 'caiSi'aSbrd to BeyitHout the use of his car from ten days to ten
weeks waiting for slow uncertain factory shipments of proper size pistons.
Tailor-Made Piston , V
Men who are particularly hard to fit have their clothes tailor made. Micrometer measurements show most cylinders in
the same block to be of different size. Why not have the correct size piston for each cylinder and give your motor a chance
to make good?
Correct Size Pistons for Any Make or Model Gas Engine
' We carry Marvel Machinery Company's celebrated "Marco" Light Weight, High Quality, Soft Gray Iron semi-finished
Pistons for more than 125 leading makes of automobiles, trucks, tractors and farm engines. These pistons will finish up to
.062 oversize. We have them finished to exact size required right here in Omaha by expert machinists.
1 Twenty Four Hour Super-Service .
By carrying' the largest and most complete stock of pistons in Iowa and Nebraska we are able to furnish the exact size
HI
ordered and make twenty-four-hour shipment on any size piston in stock Quick factory shipment can be made in old, obso
lete model pistons. No charge for pattern. " .
s ; Where Power Is Desired
; ' Unless otherwise specified, we equip all pistons - with Gill Perfect
One-Piece Piston Rings. They are a one-piece, concentricoil and com
pression piston , ring jnade from the highest quality soft gray iron an
have successfully withstood every test to which a piston ring is sub
jected. They are simple in construction, accurately machined, easilj
installed, moderate in price and guaranteed to stop any oil or compres
sion trouble.that can be "cured" with a piston ring.
; Why Wait for Pistons? They Are Waiting for You
Insist on your jobber or dealer ordering Gill Products. They cost no more and are of "highest quality. Our SUPER
SERVICE means time and money saved. ;
During Auto Show s.ee'our display at Kopac Bros., 2037 Farnam street, and at United States Rubber Company, 9th and
x Douglas7 streets, or call on us". 1
If you are unable to attend the Automobile Show, write us for our latest descriptive matter. ';
i ....
GILL PISTOX
R
NG
GO
OMAHA
Southeast Corner 20th and Farnam Streets
U.: S. A.
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